I am a long-time resident of Moss Vale and I object to the long-term effects that will be inflicted upon me by the proposed operation of the Hume Coal Project.
Hume Coal proposes to have 4 empty coal trains entering the colliery site and 4 full coal trains leaving the colliery within the space of 24 hours and this is to occur 7 days per week. That means that, on any given day - (weekends included) a coal train will be:
1) blocking motor traffic flow at the railway crossing on the Berrima to Moss Vale Road, an additional eight times (4 "in" + 4 "out"). From the personal experience of waiting for the "Boral cement train" to pass, I would sometimes be stuck at the railway lights for five minutes. The inclusion of Hume Coal trains would mean additional road closures of forty minutes per day.
Oh, yes I should mention that these road closures would also occur at the railway crossings:
* on the Old Hume Highway at New Berrima,
* the Kangaloon/ Sheepwash Road - a major thoroughfare of the Southern Highlands and
* the Illawarra Highway at Robertson - another major thoroughfare of the Southern Highlands)

2) clanging and clanking as its 200 - 250 wheels move over the junction
points that it has to traverse to cross the main southern line to go from Berrima to the Illawarra or Illawarra to Berrima. The act of traversing the junction points, and therefore the subsequent noise which will ensue will occur 8 times per day (of which 3 of these times will be at night when I, and most other Moss Vale residents are trying to sleep.)

In conclusion I would like to point out that Hume Coal is the newcomer to the area and yet, by its proposed operation, it is going to impose hardship and suffering to long established residents. Just because they have the money and the might, doesn't mean they have the right and as such I recommend that the proposed Hume Coal Project be rejected.

I object to the Berrima Rail Project and believe that it should be rejected because:

* Dangerous coal dust and diesel emissions from coal trains pose a threat to human health.

* Noise Pollution created by the coal trains will be ongoing and is a hazard to the health and well being of neighbors to the rail project.

* Hume Coal's trains will add an extra 24 minutes of closures at rail level crossings every day. This creates unacceptable delays on emergency service response times.

* Rich heritage areas and farmland will be destroyed.

I urge the Government to reject this project and protect the Southern Highlands, by supporting a vision for a sustainable and coal-free future for this region.

As a nation, we need to manage our assets with thought to both our own and future generations. The challenge for our society is prudent utilisation of our natural resources such as coal to fund our Country's and out People's needs. Funding for such nationally important systems such as the NDIS, Medicare, and Social Security does not appear from thin air. This project will contribute much needed export income while supporting existing local industry.
As a `first workings' only operation, it will have negligible impact on the overlying strata and leave the land surface effectively unchanged.
The Berrima Rail Project is a critical part of the Hume Coal Project. Both should be allowed to proceed as they constitute a responsible use of valuable national resources, which will be extracted with minimal environmental impact, and will provide much needed regional employment. This latter benefit is so important to a generation of young Australians facing a remarkably fog-ridden set of career options.

I support the Berrima Rail Project. I have lived in New Berrima for the past 30 years. I was born and bred in the southern highlands (52 years now) after working for Boral for the past 30 years I am very excited to see a new business in the area, not to mention the jobs it will bring along side working with the Hume Coal.

I strongly object to the proposal by Hume Coal re the Berrima Rail Project.
There are a number of rail crossings, especially across major roads at Sheepwash Rd, Suttor Road and at Illawarra Road Robertson that would be significantly affected. This would result in potential accidents,traffic delays, access by emergency service vehicles and other community services. When the time these access roads would be impacted is considered it results in long delays resulting in impatient drivers and potential ongoing accidents.
The noise factor would be unacceptable in areas such as Moss vale and Robertson who already have to endure freight train noise.
I urge the planning minister to reject this proposal.

I strongly object to the Berrima Rail Project, as part of the Hume Coal Project.

My young family and I moved to the Southern Highlands just over two years ago from Sydney, attracted by the charming landscape, peaceful rural lifestyle and, of course, the 'fresh country air'. I now work in a local business which largely depends on tourists visiting from Sydney, who report they are looking for exactly the same thing, even just for a day trip or weekend, as a refreshing break from the city. Since we have moved here we have seen an increase in population, as well as huge development in tourist destinations including natural, retail, culinary and cultural - making this an even more rich community in terms of economy, diversity and culture.

The Berrima Rail Project and Hume Coal Project will absolutely jeopardise the reputation of the Southern Highlands as a destination for tourists and people moving to the area, looking for a clean, country environment - something absolutely juxtaposed to having a coal mine in the area. The whole of the Southern Highlands will be tarred by the same brush by ordinary people from outside the area, who realistically are not going to take the time and effort to familiarise themselves with the promises of Hume Coal. Tourism is dependant on perception, and potential visitors will decide that the Southern Highlands is not the destination of 'fresh country air' that they are looking for.

I hope that our government will be long sighted and think about the decades and centuries of growth for our home, and will not sacrifice the reputation of the Southern Highlands for a project involving coal, a fuel which will soon be obsolete.

I would like to support the Berrima Rail Project. I support the Hume Coal Project (as per my submission) and I understand that the Berrima Rail Project is required for the Hume Coal Project to go ahead. Again I believe the benefits to the community are great than the potential costs to the community.

I have been living in Kings Road as an owner since 2009, I knew my property was only 200 mts from the Robertson railway line and understood at the time the amount of rail movements. The thought of these coal trains now proposed upward of 12 times a day would effect my health and well being. Of course when my house was built in 1917 there was no railway at all!

Berrima Rail Project DA: SSD7171

I object to this project because of the communities which will be negatively impacted by this, especially schools by the rail line.

I believe this project and any other related to it (like the Hume Coal Project) will have detrimental effects on the whole Southern Highlands region which already has established itself as an area with clean water, air and soils and has developed businesses and industries around these great qualities. It is also a water catchment area, this cannot be threatened by projects such as this! (Derailments, vehicle accidents, coal dust and other pollutants)

I object to all Hume Coal, and coal/ coal seam gas projects in general. I do not believe these projects are healthy in any way for our local communities - socially, politically, economically, environmentally, psychologically, emotionally. These projects take too much out of communities and do not give back enough.

This is a submission to the Berrima Rail Project EIS. SSD 7171
I object to this proposal and believe it should be rejected for the following reasons:
- The scope of the IES is inadequate as the Hume Coal Project significantly impacts the Berrima branch line and the Unanderra to Port Kembla branch line. Now the Tahmoor mine will operate into the future and the extra traffic from Hume will double the amount of coal train traffic on the Unanderra line.
- Whilst a grade separation is proposed for the Old Hume Highway, Suttor Road in Moss Vale, Sheepwash Road and Illawarra Highway, crossings are completely ignored. These last two crossings experience high levels of traffic in morning, afternoons and weekends. Many of the road users are tourists unfamiliar with the local area and rail level crossings. The Suttor Road crossing is used by both Moss Vale local residents and industrial area traffic. With the increase in heavy rail traffic these crossings pose an unacceptable risk to public safety and to rail staff.
- Pedestrian traffic including school children are seriously at risk in Moss Vale and Robertson. Robertson in particular has a number of pedestrian crossings and road crossings that are inadequate and poorly fenced.
- The rail line runs approximately 30 metres behind the 160 student Robertson Primary School. The children play and spend time on the oval area that runs beside the rail line. Coal dust and noise pose an unacceptable health risk to school children and school staff "There may be no safe threshold for fine particulate matter and the effects are linearly related to concentration." (WHO and Australian National Pollution Inventory).
I urge the government to reject this project as it proposes an unreasonable risk to public health and safety.